Transcription
The MetamorphosisFranz KafkaThis eBook is designed and published by Planet PDF. For more freeeBooks visit our Web site at http://www.planetpdf.com
The MetamorphosisThis text is a translation from the Germanby Ian Johnston, Malaspina UniversityCollege Nanaimo, BC. It has beenprepared for students in the Liberal Studiesand English departments. This document isin the public domain, released, January19992 of 96
The MetamorphosisIOne morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up fromanxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had beenchanged into a monstrous verminous bug. He lay on hisarmour-hard back and saw, as he lifted his head up a little,his brown, arched abdomen divided up into rigid bowlike sections. From this height the blanket, just aboutready to slide off completely, could hardly stay in place.His numerous legs, pitifully thin in comparison to the restof his circumference, flickered helplessly before his eyes.‘What’s happened to me,’ he thought. It was no dream.His room, a proper room for a human being, onlysomewhat too small, lay quietly between the four wellknown walls. Above the table, on which an unpackedcollection of sample cloth goods was spread out (Samsawas a traveling salesman) hung the picture which he hadcut out of an illustrated magazine a little while ago and setin a pretty gilt frame. It was a picture of a woman with afur hat and a fur boa. She sat erect there, lifting up in thedirection of the viewer a solid fur muff into which herentire forearm disappeared.Gregor’s glance then turned to the window. The drearyweather (the rain drops were falling audibly down on the3 of 96
The Metamorphosismetal window ledge) made him quite melancholy. ‘Whydon’t I keep sleeping for a little while longer and forget allthis foolishness,’ he thought. But this was entirelyimpractical, for he was used to sleeping on his right side,and in his present state he couldn’t get himself into thisposition. No matter how hard he threw himself onto hisright side, he always rolled again onto his back. He musthave tried it a hundred times, closing his eyes, so that hewould not have to see the wriggling legs, and gave uponly when he began to feel a light, dull pain in his sidewhich he had never felt before.‘O God,’ he thought, ‘what a demanding job I’vechosen! Day in, day out on the road. The stresses of tradeare much greater than the work going on at head office,and, in addition to that, I have to deal with the problemsof traveling, the worries about train connections, irregularbad food, temporary and constantly changing humanrelationships which never come from the heart. To hellwith it all!’ He felt a slight itching on the top of hisabdomen. He slowly pushed himself on his back closer tothe bed post so that he could lift his head more easily,found the itchy part, which was entirely covered withsmall white spots (he did not know what to make ofthem), and wanted to feel the place with a leg. But he4 of 96
The Metamorphosisretracted it immediately, for the contact felt like a coldshower all over him.He slid back again into his earlier position. ‘Thisgetting up early,’ he thought, ‘makes a man quite idiotic.A man must have his sleep. Other traveling salesmen livelike harem women. For instance, when I come back to theinn during the course of the morning to write up thenecessary orders, these gentlemen are just sitting down tobreakfast. If I were to try that with my boss, I’d be thrownout on the spot. Still, who knows whether that mightn’tbe really good for me. If I didn’t hold back for my parents’sake, I would’ve quit ages ago. I would’ve gone to theboss and told him just what I think from the bottom of myheart. He would’ve fallen right off his desk! How weird itis to sit up at the desk and talk down to the employeefrom way up there. The boss has trouble hearing, so theemployee has to step up quite close to him. Anyway, Ihaven’t completely given up that hope yet. Once I’ve gottogether the money to pay off the parents’ debt to him—that should take another five or six years—I’ll do it forsure. Then I’ll make the big break. In any case, right nowI have to get up. My train leaves at five o’clock.’And he looked over at the alarm clock ticking away bythe chest of drawers. ‘Good God,’ he thought. It was half5 of 96
The Metamorphosispast six, and the hands were going quietly on. It was pastthe half hour, already nearly quarter to. Could the alarmhave failed to ring? One saw from the bed that it wasproperly set for four o’clock. Certainly it had rung. Yes,but was it possible to sleep through this noise that madethe furniture shake? Now, it’s true he’d not slept quietly,but evidently he’d slept all the more deeply. Still, whatshould he do now? The next train left at seven o’clock.To catch that one, he would have to go in a mad rush.The sample collection wasn’t packed up yet, and he reallydidn’t feel particularly fresh and active. And even if hecaught the train, there was no avoiding a blow up with theboss, because the firm’s errand boy would’ve waited forthe five o’clock train and reported the news of his absencelong ago. He was the boss’s minion, without backbone orintelligence. Well then, what if he reported in sick? Butthat would be extremely embarrassing and suspicious,because during his five years’ service Gregor hadn’t beensick even once. The boss would certainly come with thedoctor from the health insurance company and wouldreproach his parents for their lazy son and cut short allobjections with the insurance doctor’s comments; for himeveryone was completely healthy but really lazy aboutwork. And besides, would the doctor in this case be totally6 of 96
The Metamorphosiswrong? Apart from a really excessive drowsiness after thelong sleep, Gregor in fact felt quite well and even had areally strong appetite.As he was thinking all this over in the greatest haste,without being able to make the decision to get out of bed(the alarm clock was indicating exactly quarter to seven)there was a cautious knock on the door by the head of thebed.‘Gregor,’ a voice called (it was his mother!) ‘it’s quarterto seven. Don’t you want to be on your way?’ The softvoice! Gregor was startled when he heard his voiceanswering. It was clearly and unmistakably his earliervoice, but in it was intermingled, as if from below, anirrepressibly painful squeaking which left the wordspositively distinct only in the first moment and distortedthem in the reverberation, so that one didn’t know if onehad heard correctly. Gregor wanted to answer in detailand explain everything, but in these circumstances heconfined himself to saying, ‘Yes, yes, thank you mother.I’m getting up right away.’ Because of the wooden doorthe change in Gregor’s voice was not really noticeableoutside, so his mother calmed down with this explanationand shuffled off. However, as a result of the shortconversation the other family members became aware of7 of 96
The Metamorphosisthe fact that Gregor was unexpectedly still at home, andalready his father was knocking on one side door, weaklybut with his fist. ‘Gregor, Gregor,’ he called out, ‘what’sgoing on?’ And after a short while he urged him on againin a deeper voice. ‘Gregor!’ Gregor!’ At the other sidedoor, however, his sister knocked lightly. ‘Gregor? Areyou all right? Do you need anything?’ Gregor directedanswers in both directions, ‘I’ll be ready right away.’ Hemade an effort with the most careful articulation and byinserting long pauses between the individual words toremove everything remarkable from his voice. His fatherturned back to his breakfast. However, the sisterwhispered, ‘Gregor, open the door, I beg you.’ Gregorhad no intention of opening the door, but congratulatedhimself on his precaution, acquired from traveling, oflocking all doors during the night, even at home.First he wanted to stand up quietly and undisturbed, getdressed, above all have breakfast, and only then considerfurther action, for (he noticed this clearly) by thinkingthings over in bed he would not reach a reasonableconclusion. He remembered that he had already often felta light pain or other in bed, perhaps the result of anawkward lying position, which later turned out to bepurely imaginary when he stood up, and he was eager to8 of 96
The Metamorphosissee how his present fantasies would gradually dissipate.That the change in his voice was nothing other than theonset of a real chill, an occupational illness of commercialtravelers, of that he had not the slightest doubt.It was very easy to throw aside the blanket. He neededonly to push himself up a little, and it fell by itself. But tocontinue was difficult, particularly because he was sounusually wide. He needed arms and hands to pushhimself upright. Instead of these, however, he had onlymany small limbs which were incessantly moving withvery different motions and which, in addition, he wasunable to control. If he wanted to bend one of them, thenit was the first to extend itself, and if he finally succeededdoing with this limb what he wanted, in the meantime allthe others, as if left free, moved around in an excessivelypainful agitation. ‘But I must not stay in bed uselessly,’ saidGregor to himself.At first he wanted to get of the bed with the lower partof his body, but this lower part (which he incidentally hadnot yet looked at and which he also couldn’t pictureclearly) proved itself too difficult to move. The attemptwent so slowly. When, having become almost frantic, hefinally hurled himself forward with all his force andwithout thinking, he chose his direction incorrectly, and9 of 96
The Metamorphosishe hit the lower bedpost hard. The violent pain he feltrevealed to him that the lower part of his body was at themoment probably the most sensitive.Thus, he tried to get his upper body out of the bed firstand turned his head carefully toward the edge of the bed.He managed to do this easily, and in spite of its width andweight his body mass at last slowly followed the turning ofhis head. But as he finally raised his head outside the bedin the open air, he became anxious about moving forwardany further in this manner, for if he allowed himselfeventually to fall by this process, it would take a miracle toprevent his head from getting injured. And at all costs hemust not lose consciousness right now. He preferred toremain in bed.However, after a similar effort, while he lay there againsighing as before and once again saw his small limbsfighting one another, if anything worse than before, anddidn’t see any chance of imposing quiet and order on thisarbitrary movement, he told himself again that he couldn’tpossibly remain in bed and that it might be the mostreasonable thing to sacrifice everything if there was eventhe slightest hope of getting himself out of bed in theprocess. At the same moment, however, he didn’t forgetto remind himself from time to time of the fact that calm10 of 96
The Metamorphosis(indeed the calmest) reflection might be better than themost confused decisions. At such moments, he directed hisgaze as precisely as he could toward the window, butunfortunately there was little confident cheer to be hadfrom a glance at the morning mist, which concealed eventhe other side of the narrow street. ‘It’s already seveno’clock’ he told himself at the latest striking of the alarmclock, ‘already seven o’clock and still such a fog.’ And fora little while longer he lay quietly with weak breathing, asif perhaps waiting for normal and natural conditions to reemerge out of the complete stillness.But then he said to himself, ‘Before it strikes a quarterpast seven, whatever happens I must be completely out ofbed. Besides, by then someone from the office will arriveto inquire about me, because the office will open beforeseven o’clock.’ And he made an effort then to rock hisentire body length out of the bed with a uniform motion.If he let himself fall out of the bed in this way, his head,which in the course of the fall he intended to lift upsharply, would probably remain uninjured. His backseemed to be hard; nothing would really happen to that asa result of the fall. His greatest reservation was a worryabout the loud noise which the fall must create and whichpresumably would arouse, if not fright, then at least11 of 96
The Metamorphosisconcern on the other side of all the doors. However, ithad to be tried.As Gregor was in the process of lifting himself half outof bed (the new method was more of a game than aneffort; he needed only to rock with a constant rhythm) itstruck him how easy all this would be if someone were tocome to his aid. Two strong people (he thought of hisfather and the servant girl) would have been quitesufficient. They would have only had to push their armsunder his arched back to get him out of the bed, to benddown with their load, and then merely to exercisepatience and care that he completed the flip onto thefloor, where his diminutive legs would then, he hoped,acquire a purpose. Now, quite apart from the fact that thedoors were locked, should he really call out for help? Inspite of all his distress, he was unable to suppress a smile atthis idea.He had already got to the point where, with a strongerrocking, he maintained his equilibrium with difficulty, andvery soon he would finally have to decide, for in fiveminutes it would be a quarter past seven. Then there was aring at the door of the apartment. ‘That’s someone fromthe office’ he told himself, and he almost froze while hissmall limbs only danced around all the faster. For one12 of 96
The Metamorphosismoment everything remained still. ‘They aren’t opening,’Gregor said to himself, caught up in some absurd hope.But of course then, as usual, the servant girl with her firmtread went to the door and opened it. Gregor needed tohear only the visitor’s first word of greeting to recognizeimmediately who it was, the manager himself. Why wasGregor the only one condemned to work in a firm whereat the slightest lapse someone immediately attracted thegreatest suspicion? Were all the employees thencollectively, one and all, scoundrels? Was there thenamong them no truly devoted person who, if he failed touse just a couple of hours in the morning for office work,would become abnormal from pangs of conscience andreally be in no state to get out of bed? Was it really notenough to let an apprentice make inquiries, if suchquestioning was even necessary? Must the manager himselfcome, and in the process must it be demonstrated to theentire innocent family that the investigation of thissuspicious circumstance could only be entrusted to theintelligence of the manager? And more as a consequenceof the excited state in which this idea put Gregor than as aresult of an actual decision, he swung himself with all hismight out of the bed. There was a loud thud, but not areal crash. The fall was absorbed somewhat by the carpet13 of 96
The Metamorphosisand, in addition, his back was more elastic than Gregorhad thought. For that reason the dull noise was not quiteso conspicuous. But he had not held his head up withsufficient care and had hit it. He turned his head, irritatedand in pain, and rubbed it on the carpet.‘Something has fallen in there,’ said the manager in thenext room on the left. Gregor tried to imagine to himselfwhether anything similar to what was happening to himtoday could have also happened at some point to themanager. At least one had to concede the possibility ofsuch a thing. However, as if to give a rough answer to thisquestion, the manager now took a few determined steps inthe next room, with a squeak of his polished boots. Fromthe neighbouring room on the right the sister waswhispering to inform Gregor: ‘Gregor, the manager ishere.’ ‘I know,’ said Gregor to himself. But he did notdare make his voice loud enough so that his sister couldhear.‘Gregor,’ his father now said from the neighbouringroom on the left, ‘Mr. Manager has come and is askingwhy you have not left on the early train. We don’t knowwhat we should tell him. Besides, he also wants to speak toyou personally. So please open the door. He will goodenough to forgive the mess in your room.’14 of 96
The MetamorphosisIn the middle of all this, the manager called out in afriendly way, ‘Good morning, Mr. Samsa.’ ‘He is notwell,’ said his mother to the manager, while his father wasstill talking at the door, ‘He is not well, believe me, Mr.Manager. Otherwise how would Gregor miss a train! Theyoung man has nothing in his head except business. I’malmost angry that he never goes out at night. Right nowhe’s been in the city eight days, but he’s been at homeevery evening. He sits there with us at the table and readsthe newspaper quietly or studies his travel schedules. It’s aquite a diversion for him if he busies himself withfretwork. For instance, he cut out a small frame over thecourse of two or three evenings. You’d be amazed howpretty it is. It’s hanging right inside the room. You’ll see itimmediately, as soon as Gregor opens the door. Anyway,I’m happy that you’re here, Mr. Manager. By ourselves,we would never have made Gregor open the door. He’sso stubborn, and he’s certainly not well, although hedenied that this morning.’‘I’m coming right away,’ said Gregor slowly anddeliberately and didn’t move, so as not to lose one word ofthe conversation. ‘My dear lady, I cannot explain it tomyself in any other way,’ said the manager; ‘I hope it isnothing serious. On the other hand, I must also say that15 of 96
The Metamorphosiswe business people, luckily or unluckily, however onelooks at it, very often simply have to overcome a slightindisposition for business reasons.’ ‘So can Mr. Managercome in to see you now’ asked his father impatiently andknocked once again on the door. ‘No,’ said Gregor. In theneighbouring room on the left a painful stillnessdescended. In the neighbouring room on the right thesister began to sob.Why didn’t his sister go to the others? She’d probablyjust gotten up out of bed now and hadn’t even started toget dressed yet. Then why was she crying? Because hewasn’t getting up and wasn’t letting the manager in;because he was in danger of losing his position, andbecause then his boss would badger his parents once againwith the old demands? Those were probably unnecessaryworries right now. Gregor was still here and wasn’tthinking at all about abandoning his family. At themoment he was lying right there on the carpet, and noone who knew about his condition would’ve seriouslydemanded that he let the manager in. But Gregorwouldn’t be casually dismissed right way because of thissmall discourtesy, for which he would find an easy andsuitable excuse later on. It seemed to Gregor that it mightbe far more reasonable to leave him in peace at the16 of 96
The Metamorphosismoment, instead of disturbing him with crying andconversation. But it was the very uncertainty whichdistressed the others and excused their behaviour.‘Mr. Samsa,’ the manager was now shouting, his voiceraised, ‘what’s the matter? You are barricading yourself inyour room, answer with only a yes and a no, are makingserious and unnecessary troubles for your parents, andneglecting (I mention this only incidentally) yourcommercial duties in a truly unheard of manner. I amspeaking here in the name of your parents and youremployer, and I am requesting you in all seriousness for animmediate and clear explanation. I am amazed. I amamazed. I thought I knew you as a calm, reasonableperson, and now you appear suddenly to want to startparading around in weird moods. The Chief indicated tome earlier this very day a possible explanation for yourneglect—it concerned the collection of cash entrusted toyou a short while ago—but in truth I almost gave him myword of honour that this explanation could not be correct.However, now I see here your unimaginable pigheadedness, and I am totally losing any desire to speak upfor you in the slightest. And your position is not at all themost secure. Originally I intended to mention all this toyou privately, but since you are letting me waste my time17 of 96
The Metamorphosishere uselessly, I don’t know why the matter shouldn’tcome to the attention of your parents. Your productivityhas also been very unsatisfactory recently. Of course, it’snot the time of year to conduct exceptional business, werecognize that, but a time of year for conducting nobusiness, there is no such thing at all, Mr. Samsa, and sucha thing must never be.’‘But Mr. Manager,’ called Gregor, beside himself andin his agitation forgetting everything else, ‘I’m opening thedoor immediately, this very moment. A slightindisposition, a dizzy spell, has prevented me from gettingup. I’m still lying in bed right now. But now I’m quiterefreshed once again. I’m in the midst of getting out ofbed. Just have patience for a short moment! Things are notgoing so well as I thought. But things are all right. Howsuddenly this can overcome someone! Just yesterdayevening everything was fine with me. My parents certainlyknow that. Actually just yesterday evening I had a smallpremonition. People must have seen that in me. Whyhave I not reported that to the office! But people alwaysthink that they’ll get over sickness without having to stayat home. Mr. Manager! Take it easy on my parents! Thereis really no basis for the criticisms which you are nowmaking against me, and really nobody has said a word to18 of 96
The Metamorphosisme about that. Perhaps you have not read the latest orderswhich I shipped. Besides, now I’m setting out on my tripon the eight o’clock train; the few hours’ rest have mademe stronger. Mr. Manager, do not stay. I will be at theoffice in person right away. Please have the goodness tosay that and to convey my respects to the Chief.’While Gregor was quickly blurting all this out, hardlyaware of what he was saying, he had moved close to thechest of drawers without effort, probably as a result of thepractice he had already had in bed, and now he was tryingto raise himself up on it. Actually, he wanted to open thedoor; he really wanted to let himself be seen by and tospeak with the manager. He was keen to witness what theothers now asking after him would say at the sight of him.If they were startled, then Gregor had no moreresponsibility and could be calm. But if they acceptedeverything quietly, then he would have no reason to getexcited and, if he got a move on, could really be at thestation around eight o’clock.At first he slid down a few times from the smooth chestof drawers. But at last he gave himself a final swing andstood upright there. He was no longer at all aware of thepains in his lower body, no matter how they might stillsting. Now he let himself fall against the back of a nearby19 of 96
The Metamorphosischair, on the edge of which he braced himself with histhin limbs. By doing this he gained control over himselfand kept quiet, for he could now hear the manager.‘Did you understood a single word?’ the manager askedthe parents, ‘Is he playing the fool with us?’ ‘For God’ssake,’ cried the mother already in tears, ‘perhaps he’s veryill and we’re upsetting him. Grete! Grete!’ she yelled atthat point. ‘Mother?’ called the sister from the other side.They were making themselves understood throughGregor’s room. ‘You must go to the doctor right away.Gregor is sick. Hurry to the doctor. Have you heardGregor speak yet?’ ‘That was an animal’s voice,’ said themanager, remarkably quietly in comparison to themother’s cries.‘Anna! Anna!’ yelled the father through the hall intothe kitchen, clapping his hands, ‘fetch a locksmith rightaway!’ The two young women were already runningthrough the hall with swishing skirts (how had his sisterdressed herself so quickly?) and yanked open the doors ofthe apartment. One couldn’t hear the doors closing at all.They probably had left them open, as is customary in anapartment in which a huge misfortune has taken place.However, Gregor had become much calmer. All right,people did not understand his words any more, although20 of 96
The Metamorphosisthey seemed clear enough to him, clearer than previously,perhaps because his ears had gotten used to them. But atleast people now thought that things were not all rightwith him and were prepared to help him. The confidenceand assurance with which the first arrangements had beencarried out made him feel good. He felt himself includedonce again in the circle of humanity and was expectingfrom both the doctor and the locksmith, withoutdifferentiating between them with any real precision,splendid and surprising results. In order to get as clear avoice as possible for the critical conversation which wasimminent, he coughed a little, and certainly took thetrouble to do this in a really subdued way, since it waspossible that even this noise sounded like somethingdifferent from a human cough. He no longer trustedhimself to decide any more. Meanwhile in the next roomit had become really quiet. Perhaps his parents were sittingwith the manager at the table and were whispering;perhaps they were all leaning against the door andlistening.Gregor pushed himself slowly towards the door, withthe help of the easy chair, let go of it there, threw himselfagainst the door, held himself upright against it (the ballsof his tiny limbs had a little sticky stuff on them), and21 of 96
The Metamorphosisrested there momentarily from his exertion. Then he madean effort to turn the key in the lock with his mouth.Unfortunately it seemed that he had no real teeth. Howthen was he to grab hold of the key? But to make up forthat his jaws were naturally very strong; with their help hemanaged to get the key really moving, and he did notnotice that he was obviously inflicting some damage onhimself, for a brown fluid came out of his mouth, flowedover the key, and dripped onto the floor.‘Just listen for a moment,’ said the manager in the nextroom, ‘he’s turning the key.’ For Gregor that was a greatencouragement. But they all should’ve called out to him,including his father and mother, ‘Come on, Gregor,’ theyshould’ve shouted, ‘keep going, keep working on thelock.’ Imagining that all his efforts were being followedwith suspense, he bit down frantically on the key with allthe force he could muster. As the key turned more, hedanced around the lock. Now he was holding himselfupright only with his mouth, and he had to hang onto thekey or then press it down again with the whole weight ofhis body, as necessary. The quite distinct click of the lockas it finally snapped really woke Gregor up. Breathingheavily he said to himself, ‘So I didn’t need the locksmith,’22 of 96
The Metamorphosisand he set his head against the door handle to open thedoor completely.Because he had to open the door in this way, it wasalready open very wide without him yet being reallyvisible. He first had to turn himself slowly around the edgeof the door, very carefully, of course, if he did not want tofall awkwardly on his back right at the entrance into theroom. He was still preoccupied with this difficultmovement and had no time to pay attention to anythingelse, when he heard the manager exclaim a loud ‘Oh!’ (itsounded like the wind whistling), and now he saw him,nearest to the door, pressing his hand against his openmouth and moving slowly back, as if an invisible constantforce was pushing him away. His mother (in spite of thepresence of the manager she was standing here with herhair sticking up on end, still a mess from the night) withher hands clasped was looking at his father; she then wenttwo steps towards Gregor and collapsed right in themiddle of her skirts spreading out all around her, her facesunk on her breast, completely concealed. His fatherclenched his fist with a hostile expression, as if he wishedto push Gregor back into his room, then lookeduncertainly around the living room, covered his eyes withhis hands, and cried so that his mighty breast shook.23 of 96
The MetamorphosisAt this point Gregor did not take one step into theroom, but leaned his body from the inside against thefirmly bolted wing of the door, so that only half his bodywas visible, as well as his head, titled sideways, with whichhe peeped over at the others. Meanwhile it had becomemuch brighter. Standing out clearly from the other side ofthe street was a part of the endless gray-black housesituated opposite (it was a hospital) with its severe regularwindows breaking up the facade. The rain was still comingdown, but only in large individual drops visibly and firmlythrown down one by one onto the ground. The breakfastdishes were standing piled around on the table, because forhis father breakfast was the most important meal time inthe day, which he prolonged for hours by reading variousnewspapers. Directly across on the opposite wall hung aphotograph of Gregor from the time of his militaryservice; it was a picture of him as a lieutenant, as he,smiling and worry free, with his hand on his sword,demanded respect for his bearing and uniform. The doorto the hall was ajar, and since the door to the apartmentwas also open, one saw out into the landing of theapartment and the start of the staircase going down.‘Now,’ said Gregor, well aware that he was the onlyone who had kept his composure. ‘I’ll get dressed right24 of 96
The Metamorphosisaway, pack up the collection of samples, and set off. You’llallow me to set out on my way, will you not? You see,Mr. Manager, I am not pig-headed, and I am happy towork. Traveling is exhausting, but I couldn’t live withoutit. Where are you going, Mr. Manager? To the office?Really? Will you report everything truthfully? A personcan be incapable of work momentarily, but that isprecisely the best time to remember the earlierachievements and to consider that later, after the obstacleshave been shoved aside, the person will work all the morekeenly and intensely. I am really so indebted to Mr.Chief—you know that perfectly well. On the other hand,I am concerned about my parents and my
The Metamorphosis 3 of 96 I One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug. He lay on his armour-hard back and saw, as he lifted his head up a little, his brown, arched abdomen divided up into rigid bow-like sections. From this height the blanket, just .
